Mississippi

How the Clarion Ledger covered the devastating Rolling Fork, MS, tornado in March of 2023

Published

2 years ago

January 22, 2024

How the Clarion Ledger covered the devastating Rolling Fork, MS, tornado in March of 2023

Rolling Fork is a town well-steeped in adversity. The community of fewer than 2,000 residents in the Mississippi Delta has witnessed flood and economics devastate its community before.

Nothing, though, had hardened it for the EF-4 tornado that ripped through the town after dark on March 24, 2023, destroying homes, businesses and claiming 15 lives in town and more than 20 across the state. Wind speeds were reported just shy of 200 mph, and nothing stood in its three-quarters-of-a-mile-wide wake.

The Clarion Ledger sprinted into action to cover the impact to this town, roughly an hour and half’s drive to the north of the Jackson area, at least that is when you could drive at all through roads torn apart or covered in debris. Before dawn, the Clarion Ledger’s team of photographers and reporters was in place.

With a live blog populated by every news and sports reporter the team had, the Clarion Ledger provided the most news gathering of any team on the ground. Our original main bar captured the sweep of the storm that the National Weather Service ultimately determined was the worst to hit its Jackson, Mississippi, coverage area in more than a half century.

About 80% to 85% of the homes in Rolling Fork had severe damage or were destroyed in the tornado.

The Clarion Ledger’s team immediately began to tell the stories of the people impacted, while chronicling the rising death toll and putting into perspective where the storm stood among the many calamities the state has endured. Compelling gallery after gallery along with video, daily live blogs and drone footage helped readers understand the devastation and the recovery. We told readers how they could help victims.

And we turned attention to the area residents’ struggles and the communities’ resiliency, Clarion Ledger staff members:

Told a tale of coincidence and fortune — that of the local school’s prom, which no doubt saved countless lives. Chuck’s Dairy Bar, the local hangout would have been full of the city’s high school children. It always was on Saturday night. But that night was prom night, and the teens were a few miles away, enough to be out of harm’s way. Chuck’s Dairy Bar was completely leveled. The teens, had they been at their normal haunt, would have likely died. When they got word of the storm, the teens rushed to town, still dressed in their tuxes and prom dresses, and worked to help survivors out of the rubble.
Chronicled the story of an 81-year-old minister who had been struck by a tornado twice — in just three months, losing both homes.
Wrote about area residents who wore many hats, including the Rolling Fork mayor who also served as the local funeral director, overwhelmed by grief amid duty; and the long, torturous days of Natalie Perkins, editor of the local weekly newspaper, who also sat on the emergency management agency board the the county in which Rolling Fork was hit.
Focused on the state of church services, an important component of the fabric of the Delta community, the day after the tornado and into the week.
In the days that followed, told the story of people reunited with their family photos, some windblown more than 100 miles from their scrapbooks to where they were recovered.
Explored the challenges of the local hospital, like many others in the Delta, facing closure amid financial pressure but one that saved lives after the storms.
Wrote about the task of debris removal, the impact of the storm on local businesses and on sports throughout the state.

By the week’s end, Clarion Ledger staff members attended heart-wrenching funeral services, such as the one for 2-year-old Aubree Green in nearby Silver City, which was also decimated by the tornado that ripped through the Delta and into the city of Amory in Northeast Mississippi.

Days after the storm, President Joe Biden visited the Rolling Fork, solemnly reading the names of the 13 who died the day of the tornado. That death toll would rise. Clarion Ledger staffer Ross Reily, who had not stopped all week, was the local pool reporter.

We noted in a separate story that Biden was not the first American president to visit this Delta city. More than a century earlier, President Theodore Roosevelt visited Rolling Fork on a bear hunt, and when he refused to kill a bear that had been tied up and clubbed for him, believing it unsporting, editorial cartoonists featured the president and the bear. Thus was spawned — the Teddy Bear.

Until March 2023, if you had heard of Rolling Fork at all, that is what you knew of the city. The Clarion Ledger made sure that the stories of its people, its struggles and its heroes, were not lost.

Mississippi Drone footage of Rolling Fork tornado damage

The small Delta town of Rolling Fork suffered widespread devastation after a tornado hit Friday., MEMA reports at least 25 dead across the state.

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Mississippi

George County High School senior killed in Highway 26 crash, MHP says

Published

21 minutes ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

George County High School senior killed in Highway 26 crash, MHP says

GEORGE COUNTY, Miss. (WLOX) — A George County High School senior is dead after an SUV hit him while bicycling on Highway 26 Friday night.

Mississippi Highway Patrol (MHP) officials said at 8:15 p.m. the MHP responded to a fatal crash on Highway 26 in George County.

Those officials said a Ford SUV traveling west on Highway 26 collided with 18-year-old Tyree Bradley of McLain, Mississippi, who was bicycling.

Bradley was fatally injured and died at the scene, MHP officials said.

The crash remains under investigation by the MHP.

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Mississippi

Mississippi State Drops Series Opener at Texas A&M Despite Late Chances

Published

13 hours ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

Mississippi State Drops Series Opener at Texas A&M Despite Late Chances

Some losses feel like they drag on longer than the box score suggests, and Mississippi State’s 3-1 opener at Texas A&M fits that category.

It wasn’t a blowout. It wasn’t a game where the Bulldogs looked outmatched.

It was just one of those nights where the early mistakes stuck around and the offense never quite found the swing that could shake them loose.

The frustrating part is how quickly the hole formed. Two solo homers and a wild pitch in the first two innings put Mississippi State behind 3-0, and that was basically the ballgame.

Against a top tier SEC team on the road, spotting three runs that early is a tough ask. The Bulldogs didn’t fold, but they also didn’t cash in when the door cracked open.

“I liked our fight. I think we’re really just working through some things offensively, and trying to stay together,” Mississippi State coach Samantha Ricketts said. “This team still believes, and we’re going to battle and fight every chance we get, and I think I saw a lot of that. I’m encouraged for what that means for us moving forward, but, you know, they’re a good hitting team, and we’ve got to be able to shut them down early. I don’t think Peja [Goold] had her best stuff, but she continued to battle out there and find ways to get outs.”

They had chances. Two runners stranded in the fifth. Two more in the sixth. Another in the seventh. Des Rivera finally got the Bulldogs on the board with an RBI single, but the big hit that usually shows up for this lineup never arrived.

It wasn’t a lack of traffic. It was a lack of finish.

If there was a bright spot, it came from the bullpen. Delainey Everett gave Mississippi State exactly what it needed after the rocky start.

“That was just a huge relief appearance by Delaney to keep us in it,” Ricketts said. “It’s really good to have her back and healthy these last few weeks because these are the moments where we really need her and rely on her. We know that she’s going to be a big part of the remainder of the season going forward as well.”

Three hitless innings, one baserunner, and a reminder that she’s quietly putting together a strong stretch.

There were individual positives too. Nadia Barbary keeps climbing the doubles list. Kiarra Sells keeps finding ways on base.

But the bigger picture is simple. Mississippi State is now 6-10 in the SEC, and the margin for error is shrinking. Nights like this one are the difference between climbing back into the race and staying stuck in the middle.

They get another shot this morning with the schedule bumped up for weather. The formula isn’t complicated.

Clean up the early innings, keep getting quality relief, and find one or two timely swings. The Bulldogs didn’t get them Friday. They’ll need them today.

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Mississippi

Mississippi farmers struggle through years without profit as war with Iran deepens crisis

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

YAZOO COUNTY, Miss. — Mississippi Delta farmers are facing another expensive planting season as fertilizer and fuel costs continue to climb.

Farmers in Yazoo and Sharkey counties, Clay Adcock and Jeffrey Mitchell, said it has been years since their crops turned a real profit.

“I guess it would be since 2022,” Adcock said.

“Last 2.5 to three years since we had a very profitable year,” Mitchell said.

Rising input costs squeeze farmers

Adcock said he was paying $300 per ton of fertilizer before the war with Iran broke out. He is now paying double for the same amount. Mitchell saw similar spikes.

“Fertilizer was up 25% before the Iranian conflict already,” Mitchell said. “Then since that started Diesel fuel is up 40% in the last six months.”

Survey and research from the American Farm Bureau show they are not the only ones feeling the pinch.

“We’ve got trouble with the farming community,” Adcock said. “And you can see that with the bankruptcies that are there and no young farmers that can afford the capital to get started.”

Mitchell said today’s farmers face a shrinking industry of suppliers. 75% of all fertilizer in the U.S. comes from four companies: Yara USA, CF Industries, Nutrien and Koch Industries.

“With the world market on fertilizer, pretty much everyone has the same price,” Mitchell said. “It’s not like you can go to store B, get a better price.”

forces

Oil and natural gas cut off in the Strait of Hormuz forces energy companies worldwide to compete for less supply. The spike in costs passes on to fertilizer producers, who pass higher prices on to distributors, leaving family farms at the end of the line with the most expensive bills.

“They deliver it to us and we’re at their mercy,” Adcock said.

Adcock said he would like to see more regulation to even the playing field among fertilizer companies and prevent potential price gouging.

“There should be guiderails in place to keep fertilizer producers within a range and if they get out of that range it throws up red flags as they do in the SEC with stocks,” Adcock said. “Have some consistency in our business.”

Mitchell said the costs will circle back to consumers at the store. The spike in diesel also increases the cost of transporting finished crops after harvest to stores.

“Everything will be higher once it gets to Kroger or Wal-Mart or wherever,” Mitchell said. “They’ll just pass it onto consumers.”

It is too early to tell what the final prices will look like once harvest season is over. Each farmer said one way consumers can help is to buy as much produce as possible directly from farmers at markets and buy American items.

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